San Francisco Superior Court Judge Sylvia Husing today ordered the release from jail of Tony Shervaughn Phillips, the man charged with assaulting and resisting officers after a Tenderloin street fight with Mayor Daniel Lurie’s police bodyguard last week.
Phillips, Husing said, was “violently assaulted” by that officer.
After Phillips appeared in court this morning and pleaded not guilty on various charges, Husing watched surveillance video footage of the incident in private. Returning to court, she seemed to have a clear view of what happened: The police officer “did violently shove him to the ground,” Husing said.
Lurie was being driven down Larkin Street on Thursday evening when he noticed a group of people gathered at the intersection with Cedar Street, a small alley near the Tenderloin. As first reported by Mission Local, Lurie “hopped out” of his SUV, trailed by a police officer assigned to his security detail.
Lurie told the people to move along, but when Phillips refused to comply and allegedly became argumentative, video shows Officer Joel Aguayo shove Phillips to the ground. Phillips rose, and when Aguayo pushed Phillips to the ground again, Phillips began to fight back, slamming Aguayo to the ground and injuring his head.
Phillips was criminally charged on Monday by District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who referred to his “assaultive conduct” that she said poses a “public safety risk.”
But in court on Wednesday, Judge Husing seemed far more concerned with Phillips’ safety.
“I don’t want to let him out and let him be subject to the same sort of stuff that he was in that video,” Husing said. “He was violently assaulted.”
Phillips’ court-appointed attorney, Ivan Rodriguez, said he would do anything he could to ensure Phillips made it to court tomorrow morning for his other open cases — Phillips has a long rap sheet. Rodriguez also said he would work to find shelter for Phillips, who he said is homeless and frequents the area of Cedar and Larkin streets “because he has no other place to go.”
One of Phillips’ charges is that he violated a court order to stay away from that area. Today in court, however, Judge Husing said the document was “vague.”
On the document obtained by Mission Local, the phrase “stay away from” had been crossed out and replaced with “not loiter with.”
“It would’ve been nice if someone told him what loitering meant,” Husing said. “Most of us don’t know — what does loitering mean?”
On the request of Assistant District Attorney Erin Loback, Husing issued a true stay-away order and directed Phillips not to return to the intersection of Cedar and Larkin streets.